EY’s £2.7bn legal fight over NMC Health audits May 19, 2025 A mammoth legal fight against EY over its auditing of a former London-listed health giant that collapsed after allegations of fraud starts today
Virgin Media O2 to create £1.4bn giant in mega deal May 12, 2025 Virgin Media O2 has announced plans to create a new communications and IT giant which is expected to turn over around £1.4bn. The move will see Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group combine their direct B2B (business to business) operations. Virgin Media O2 is to own 70 per cent of the new entity, with Lancashire-headquartered [...]
The Capitalist: City grandees live it up at the City AM Awards May 8, 2025 Forget the first Monday in May, The Capitalist joined City grandees at Guildhall for a behind the scenes look at the City AM Awards.
PwC US set to cut 1,500 roles May 6, 2025 Big Four firm PwC is set to cut around two per cent of its roles across the Atlantic after a lengthy business review at the consultancy giant
EY: Profit warnings surge points to ‘economic shock’ May 6, 2025 Nearly one in five listed companies have told investors that they expected profits to decline in the past twelve months, new research has suggested, reflecting firms’ vulnerabilities to higher taxes and damaging tariffs. Chancellor Reeves flattered investors in the run-up to last year’s election, calling Labour the “natural party of business”. But a new report [...]
FTSE 100 lenders cash in on market turmoil but provisions climb May 5, 2025 FTSE 100 banking giants saw trading income spike in the first quarter as investors sold-off stocks in the face of geopolitical tensions, but tariff threats continued to weigh on future earnings. HSBC kicked off reporting season pocketing a $9.5bn (£7.1bn) pre-tax profit, which surged ahead of the $7.8bn pencilled in by analysts. Barclays and Natwest [...]
Mortgage borrowing surges ahead of stamp duty changes May 1, 2025 Net borrowing or mortgages spiked by £9.7bn in March as house buyers looked to clinch deals before higher stamp duty taxes came into effect. Net borrowing levels exceeded £13bn, according to the Bank of England, as the rise compared to February beat market forecasts of £3.2bn. EY ITEM Club’s Matt Swannell said the surge in [...]
Taxes and tariffs combine to ‘drag business sentiment’ April 30, 2025 The double whammy of Rachel Reeves’ taxes and Donald Trump’s tariffs have dragged confidence in business volumes to their lowest level in more than two years, fresh data has found, further clouding prospects for the British economy. The UK has already suffered from lacklustre growth over the last few years as real GDP only expanded [...]
ONS set to weigh up cost to public purse of British Steel rescue April 29, 2025 The UK’s official statistics body has begun an assessment of the cost of running British Steel since the loss-making business was rescued by the government, City AM can reveal, in what could prove to be another blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal targets. The UK’s top statistician Professor Sir Ian Diamond said the Office for [...]
EY: Two years of slow UK growth means ‘increased chances’ of tax rises April 28, 2025 Rachel Reeves may have to resort to reversing Labour manifesto tax pledges as UK growth fails to exceed one per cent for two years running, EY ITEM Club have said, in the latest blow to the chancellor’s fiscal plans The Chancellor has been warned by several forecasters that President Trump’s tariffs will hammer the UK [...]